The Boov are an alien race who are good at one thing—fleeing. In fact, Captain Smek (Steve Martin) is the first to admit his skills are “cowering, running and pulling a skedaddle”. The Boov once again find themselves on the run from their enemy, the Gorg, and decide Earth is a suitable planet for their new home. But before moving in, the Boov relocate all of the humans to Australia in a new settlement known as Happyhumanstown.

One of Earth’s new aliens is named Oh (Jim Parsons)—a clueless, ever-optimistic Boov who is constantly trying to make friends, but always seems to get into trouble. In fact, his name comes from the negative reaction the other Boov make when he tries to talk with them or hang out with them. Oh decides to throw a “warming of the house” party to welcome his neighbors to their new Earth home, but he accidentally sends his evite to the entire galaxy. The other Boov cannot figure out Oh’s password (he changed it from the default of “password”) in order to stop the message before it reached the Gorg. So Smek puts out an APB for Oh, and wants him captured. Oh is now on the run, and decides to move to Antarctica where there are no other Boov around.

Meanwhile, a teenage human girl named Tip (Rihanna), who was accidentally skipped during the mass relocation, is on a mission to find her mother (Jennifer Lopez). She, along with her cat named Pig, soon cross paths with Oh. Both are on the run, but can they find a way to get along and help one another?!

I have been looking forward to seeing this film ever since I first saw the hilarious Almost Home prequel teaser over a year ago. Home is a delightful film with lots of humor and heart. The Boov are cute and fun, and literally wear their emotions on their sleeves. The Boov are naturally a purplish tint, but when they are happy, sad, scared, angry or lying, they change colors. You can’t help but smile every time Oh is on the screen—his unwavering optimism is infectious.

The film makes use of a lot of fun quick cut flashbacks. Oh will often be explaining something about the Boov or something from his own past and we get a quick cut to some humorous depiction of those events. While this is a mechanism we’ve seen many times in comedic films and TV shows, I can’t recall having seen this in an animated film before.

The Boov have a unique broken-English way of speaking. For the most part this is fun and charming, but at times it does get a bit exhausting. It would be if talked like Yoda all the time, you did.

The characters of Oh and Smek are perfectly cast. In many ways Oh reminds me of Jim Parsons’ character on The Big Bang Theory—he is very smart, but socially awkward and completely clueless as to how much people can’t stand him. But at his heart is a fun-loving, good-natured guy with a heart of gold. Steve Martin is also wonderfully cast as the imbecile leader Smek. Smek is not unlike other characters Martin has done before—he, too, is clueless but believes his actions are really for the best. These two characters can get annoying at times, but in all the right, fun ways.

The picture quality of this Blu-ray is fantastic. The colors are rich and the animation detailed, even during scenes of heavy action. Each scene has multiple layers to what’s going on, and even the tiniest of details are considered. The audio track is also quite impressive, utilizing all of the channels to immerse the viewer into the action. The dialogue is clear and the musical soundtrack is delightful.

The Blu-ray contains a nice collection of bonus features—I feel like DreamWorks has been listening to my requests in my reviews from their previous releases because this time around we get a nice collection of deleted scenes and a glimpse of the cast—two things I have mentioned in the past. We also get three animated shorts (including the hilarious Almost Home prequel teaser), two music videos, instructions on how to draw the characters, some fun party-themed featurettes with Oh, an interactive feature, a photo gallery, and the ability to jump to the various songs in the film. If there’s one thing I would have liked to have seen added, it would have been an audio commentary, or a comparison between the film and the original book.

While I was only sent the 2D release for review, for little more money, you can pick up the 3D version which also includes a 3D Blu-ray of the film (all other contents are the same). It was clear that some of these scenes were designed for 3D, and if you have the means to watch 3D at
home, that is definitely the version to pick up.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:33:48)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French (Quebec) Dolby Digital 5.1, French DTS 5.1, Dutch DTS 5.1, Italian DTS 5.1, Portuguese DD 5.1, Flemish DTS 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French (Quebec), French, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Hindi

DVD:

• 480p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Surround Dolby Digital 2.0, French Surround Dolby Digital 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
• Closed Captioned

Digital Copy (Redemption Deadline 7/28/2018):

• Digital HD Copy redeemable via iTunes, Flixster (UltraViolet), Google Play or Vudu (UltraViolet)

Extras:
(Only those marked with a * are also included on the DVD)

• Best Party Ever!* (1:01)
  Oh provides an overview of all of the discs special features.
• Oh’s Party Place
  Party Play All or select from:
  • Oh’s Shake Your Boov Thing* (2:56)
    Oh explains the effect music has on the Boov, shows off his dance moves and then goes into a Shake Your Boov Thing (aka “Slushious”) music video.
  • Party Tunes
    • “Feel the Light” by Jennifer Lopez Music Video* (4:10)
      Music video featuring clips from the film mixed with Jennifer Lopez dancing and performing on a futuristic space set. Lopez is joined by animated characters from the film.
    • “Feel the Light” by Jennifer Lopez Lyric Video* (2:04)
      Music video featuring clips from the film mixed with Jennifer Lopez recording the song in the studio. Throughout the video, the lyrics pop up on screen.
    • Oh’s Boovy Jukebox* (28:09)
      Watch the scenes from the film that contain music. Play All or select from “Red Balloon”, “Slushious”, “Run To Me”, “Dancing in the Dark”, “Only Girl (In the World)”, “Cannonball”, “Drop That”, “Boov Death Song”, “Towards the Sun”, “Feel The Light”, “Feel the Light (Reprise)”, “As Real as You and Me”, “Dancing in the Dark (Reprise/End Credits)”, “Red Balloon (End Credits)”, “Feel the Light (End Credits)” and “Slushious (End Credits)”.
  • Oh’s Party Planning Tips* (4:04)
    Oh uses clips from the film to explain the proper way to plan and execute the best party ever.
  • Oh’s Costume Party
    In this interactive feature, you get either Oh or Smek ready for Oh’s costume party. Give the Boov of your choice a unique look by selecting various clothes and accessories for him to wear and then save your photo to the gallery to view later. For Oh, you select from 6 eyeshadow colors, 6 lip gloss colors, 6 eyeliner styles, 6 colors of clothing, 6 head gear (4 wigs or 2 hats), and 6 accessories (3 glasses, earmuffs, scarf, or bracelet). For Smek you basically just cover him in lots of Earth stuff by selecting between 5 “scents”, 5 “clothing”, 5 “accessories” and 5 “hats/wigs”.
• Short Boovies
  Three animated shorts:
  • This Is Being Boov (2:53)
    Oh explains the history of the Boov and what’s it’s like to be Boov.
  • Almost Home (4:08)
    In this fun prequel to the film, we see Smek leading the Boov on many disastrous relocation attempts before settling on Earth as their new home.
  • Testing Lab (2:04)
    Oh explains the human object testing process.
• Deleted Scenes (26:05)
  A collection of six deleted/early concept scenes (four of which are alternate openings) with introductions from director Tim Johnson. Most of these contain storyboards and rough animation. Play All or select from “What a Dump”, “Hide and Seek”, “Oh’s Apartment”, “Empty Earth”, “The Swamp Chase” and “The Key Fight”.
• Be An Artist! (22:41)
  Story artist Andy Erekson teaches viewers how to draw three characters from the film. Play All or select from “Oh”, “Tip”, and “Pig the Cat”.
• Oh’s Other Extras
  • Home: Boov Pop! Mobile Game (:38)
    Ad for the free mobile game.
  • Stars of Home (1:32)
    The human actors—Jim Parsons (“Oh”), Rihanna (“Tip”), Jennifer Lopez (“Lucy”) and Steve Martin (“Smek”)—talk about the characters they voice.
  • Gallery* (2:03)
    Manually advance through this gallery of 24 still images from the film, or let it auto advance every 5 seconds.
  • Theatrical Trailer* (2:26)
• World of DreamWorks Animation* (21:35)
  Music videos and trailers for popular DreamWorks franchises
  • Shrek — “I’m a Believer” music video
  • Madagascar — “I Like To Move It, Move It” music video
  • How To Train Your Dragon — “Fly High” music video, “Dragons Continues” DVD ad
  • Kung Fu Panda — “Kung Fu Fighting” music video
  • The Croods — “Shine Your Way” music video & The Croods Trailer
  • Turbo — “The Snail is Fast” music video & Turbo Trailer
  • Mr. Peabody & Sherman — Mr. Peabody & Sherman Trailer
  • Dreamworks Holiday Favorites — Play All or select from trailers for “Shrek the Halls”, “Merry Madagascar”, “Kung Fu Panda Holiday”, “DreamWorks Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury”, “Rise of the Guardians”, “Original Christmas Classics Trailer” and “Veggie Tales: Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas”.

Final Thoughts:

Home is a charming and delightful with characters you immediately fall in love with. Oh, Smek and the rest of the Boov will make you smile throughout the film. The Blu-ray presentation is top-notch and the the disc contains a nice selection of bonus material, with stuff included for all age levels. Folks with the ability to view 3D at home should spend the few extra dollars for the 3D release as there are a few scenes that were definitely designed to be seen in 3D. This fun film comes recommended.